The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. – Albert Einstein

Category: Assignments

I don’t know about you but I for now find it difficult to be spontaneously creative… which can be extremely embarassing and even frightening for an aspiring artist. While doing the warm up exercise, whenever I think of something to create I get a locked in feeling: nothing comes out although I sense that the answer is at the tip of my fingers.

I made two little spontaneous drawings but while I was drawing I was feeling some kind of an abyss, since I didn’t know how my drawing was going to turn out. Also I found my lines clumsy and somehow… lost, unexperienced, with no purpose.

The first drawing is self explanatory :). The second one is trying to depict an Alabama house from the beginning of the 20th century. My inspiration was Michael’s McDowell classical horror novel, “The Elementals”. This is how I imagine it, sorrunded by the mystery and the tension in the novel. The house drawing was an opportunity for me to find out that I am interested in specific architecture belonging to a specific time and place (research subject to follow: Alabama houses dating from the last century).

I am currently reading “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. It is a wonderful book, along with its workbook, teaching how to unlock creativity, for all becoming artists, no matter their orientation. I highly recommend it, for all of you who find themselves confronted with the same kind of creative block.

(I have to open a parenthesis to make some amendements: while I love and I am thirsty for all information concerning drawing and while I will gladly share with you all my sources of inspiration, I think that reading too many books or following too many drawing sites can actually be counterproductive. The focus dissipates in too many directions and the result can be void and discouraging. So my advice for you and above all for me 🙂 is to stick essentially to the main structure of our course and to the referenced bibliography and take it with patience and resilience, one day at a time.)

The good news concerning the creative block is that I think creativity is born while… creating. I do not believe in talent per se: while geniuses exist from early childhood (Michelangelo, Da Vinci etc) I believe that anyone can learn to draw through patient and repeated exercise, which will strenghten and expand the neural circuits and synapses responsable for the habit of drawing. Talent is only the perk.

I find myself very creative in my daily activity but in my working field I master most of the basic and advanced pieces of the puzzle so I can play with to an innovative and useful purpose. Through analogy I conclude that with Drawing is going to happen just the same. All needed are diligence and steady exercise.

(Some old exercises, done for warming up).

Do you find yourself confronted to a creative block? How do you deal with it?

How do you warm up for a drawing session? Do you actually draw light sketches or do you prefer some other artistic activity, like singing, dancing, playing an instrument? Or meditation maybe…?